UK retail sales fell unexpectedly last month, capping the worst year on record after a cost-of-living squeeze and strikes rattled the industry.
The volume of goods purchased in shops and online dropped 1 per cent in December after a decline of 0.5 per cent the month before, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Economists had expected a gain of 0.5 per cent.
The drop was driven by non-food sales as “consumers cut back on spending because of increased prices and affordability concerns,” the ONS said.
In a sign of how red-hot inflation is eroding consumers’ spending power, sales were 13.6 % higher in value terms in December compared with pre-Covid per cent levels, but volumes were 1.7 per cent lower. That means consumers are having to pay more to buy less.
The great Guinness shortage has lessons for Diageo
Ireland has won the corporation tax game for now, but will that last?
Corkman leading €11bn development of Battersea Power Station in London: ‘We’ve created a place to live, work and play’
Elf doors, carriage rides and boat cruises: Christmas in Ireland’s five-star hotels
In a sign of how red-hot inflation is eroding consumers’ spending power, sales were 13.6 per cent higher in value terms in December compared with pre-Covid levels, but volumes were 1.7 per cent lower. That means consumers are having to pay more to buy less.
Postal strikes in the run-up to Christmas drove more customers into bricks-and-mortar stores over online shopping. The share of online sales slipped to 25.4 per cent and fell by 8.9 per cent compared to a year earlier. – Bloomberg
